Widescreen Gaming Forum

I just started playing this game last night. It's a fairly simplistic game involving an art thief hired to steal an artifact from a museum called Pandora's Box that unbeknownst to him, actually IS Pandora's Box, unleashing a mythical hell on Earth after he opens it with everything from Griffons, to Golems, to Werewolves, to Minotaurs, etc.

If you can get past the cliched story, slightly value-game character movement and aim (not as bad as reviewed), and arcade-like NPC battles, it's actually not a bad game. The graphics in some ways (NPCs, cars, etc) are not extremely polished, but where the game shines, in it's monster battles and environments, it does pretty well both in graphics and up close adrenaline induced action.

It has some fairly creative and effective scares, monsters, and puzzles, though the latter more for their gore and/or potential shock value than difficulty. It's the first time ever in a game I've been assaulted by cans of pop flung at me rapid fire by a poltergeist having possessed a soda machine.LOL That may not sound overly daunting or even practical as far as shock value, but it took me a moment to figure out what was taking health from me and how to escape the room I was trapped in, all the while the ghost giggling at me. The lighting and shadows are fairly mood inspiring as well, adding to the feel of the game.

Some monsters can be a pain to deal with, like the swarms of little child-like Naris that fly around as milky white ghosts, then transform into solid bodies momentarily just before they attack, which is the only time they're vulnerable. There's an objective where you have to recharge one of three EMP generators whilst taking on such a swarm and it can be tough your first time, even on Easy mode.

You have an occult type of power you can use, which is called the "Signet". It's branded onto the back of your left hand when you open the Pandora's Box. It allows you to pull the life force from dead monsters you kill, healing yourself as it fills the Signet. The Signet can also be used to stun enemies momentarily with a pulse wave and charge those generators I was referring to, making it hard to both complete an objective AND stay healthy at times.

There's not a whole lot of weapons in the game, and you can't carry a lot at once (1 melee, 2 guns). This works though because it really isn't supposed to play like a full on shooter. It's more of a hybrid action horror/shooter game that compels you to use the melee tool (a fairly effective fireman's axe) and Signet pulse at times to help fend off the monsters. If nothing else the axe is handy for chopping off the heads of Werewolves after you down them, otherwise they spring back to life! It also conserves ammo, though there seems to be enough ammo for the most part. You also have Molotovs and grenades, which are best saved for more boss-like monsters such as the Minotaurs and Griffons, esp the Griffons.

There are also reptilian mole-like creatures that ball up and roll at you, then spit fire balls at you. These can be dispatched without even using hand held weapons by opening water valves or axing fire hydrants, which kills them with water when you lure them to it or flood their burrows. There's also Queen Blood Spiders that hatch little ones and occasional appearances of an underground monster with huge tentacles, the latter of which is the only part of it I've seen so far.

I think my favorite is the Alpha Werewolf, which is larger and stronger than it's female counterpart and has a thick furry mane. These guys can hurl heavy objects at you and are much harder to take down than the normal Werewolf. The game abounds with grisly cutscenes, some of which show Alpha Werewolves dismembering unsuspecting NPCs, jumping onto flying choppers, etc. There seems to be one annoying glitch concerning scripted scenes during gameplay however where Werewolves attacking a squad member cannot be injured whilst doing so.

Like I said, the game is worth playing. I can't say I'd pay a lot for it, but it's definitely better than most review sites rate it, though perhaps not quite as good as a couple have. I'd say maybe 70%, but I'm only 1/4 or so into it so far. I've seen it for $25 new in box at eBay. It is a bit hitchy, mainly when cutcenes, NPCs, monsters, and checkpoints trigger, but it doesn't hitch all the time like GoW. Other than that the frame rates are pretty good with relatively little to no lag, even set on High with my old single core rig.

I have read reviews saying they take off points for lots of glitches like texture flickering and no clipping, but honestly I have not had problems with that. The game does use Unreal Engine 3, which has been known to have flickering texture issues in some games, but I just don't see it here like I did in Frontlines Fuel of War.

Funny, I just got this tonight... I went to Best Buy for Empire: Total War and they had this for $20, so I grabbed it. I played the demo and mostly agree with your thoughts... a simple game, but fun, and in many ways quite grand and impressive visually.

I think reviewers demand some level of innovation and have no love for simple genre games, which is a shame as many people enjoy that kind of title. In movies you can give a flick a 2 out of 10 and people who love the genre or actor might still enjoy it, and I think people recognize that, but in games it seems like anything below a 7 is the kiss of death and everyone avoids the game.

Wow, great price, I'd have thought Frys would more likely have the better price, but once in a while Best Buy comes through. I just finished it tonight. Turns out I was farther through the game than I thought, somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 way I would say. It's a bit shorter than I expected, but challenging throughout. I can't imagine what it's going to be like to play it on the hardest difficulty mode.

"Ranting" like a "moron" are we ? ;) Nice review.
The pesky Nari are easy to deal with using "Signet pulse" and a good ol' trusty shotgun, but I agree that part with the EMP in the subway station seems hard the first time around.

My favourite detail : hit a werewolf's arms until they break and flap in the wind, and watch the beast try to slap you. Ragdoll fun on the living, now that's something new ! :D

Obscure stuff : sometimes alpha werewolves will grab you. An icon appears telling you to tap the right arrow. Sometimes I do, oftentimes I don't. It never seemed to make a difference. The manual doesn't even mention it. Broken feature or should I try harder ? :?:

Compared to Turning Point I bitterly regret the lack of cheat modes. Grenade action was a LOT of fun in that game, and unlimited hand grenades was a real incentive to replay at least a couple episodes. Unlimited molotovs, or railgun or flamethrower ammo, would have been a great little reward for completing Legendary. (Bots for the MP mode would've been a treat too... I don't suppose there's many folks playing MP Legendary online) :?

It appears Spark's next project will be a third-person game. I really hope they'll come back with another "shoot things in a collapsing world" kind of FPS soon. Screw "official" reviews, we need games like these :D

More importantly what is WS support like? Surround gaming? This is WSGF! ;)

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Dipping bags at Mach1.9

I think there was already a detailed report... other than hud stretching I think it is fine for normal widescreen... probably not for triplehead though, I imagine.

Think of it as a budget title and you should have a lot of fun with it. If it came out at $30 or even $20 it would have been received a lot better. It's fun and looks great at times, it's just not a AAA title.

More importantly what is WS support like? Surround gaming? This is WSGF! ;)

The game's in the MGL, y'know ;)

Native surround support, Hor+ gameplay with stretched HUD.
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15570

I know, that is what the 'wink' is about! But I thought you might go 'simple but fun AND IT IS HOR+' unlike a whole lot of games that get good review scores ;)

Anyway it seems a bit like FEAR 2 to a certain extent. Those that review it looking for another ground breaking FEAR are going to be disappointed and give it a low score. But if you look at it as a FPS (from what I have seen in the demo) it is great! So I agree that there is too much emphasis on 'new features'. Something like Bioshock, which got great scores, was IMO rubbish. Yes the atmosphere etc yes cool but when it came down to it it was a corridor shooter of the old school...go here, do that, totally linear, all the same. The monsters say the same thing over and over again. And the combat was rubbish (although liked the RPG element to modding yourself). So what was IMO just a poor corridor shooter, with a nice sotry-line and some new bits, got a great score 'cos the reviewers concentrated on the new stuff rather than what the core gameplay was.

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Dipping bags at Mach1.9

FEAR 2 had everything to become a milestone in FPS history and failed, ending up being hardly more than yet another next-gen shooter.
Bioshock was a mix of cutting-edge eye-candy, sophisticated design and dull gameplay.
Legendary is a short-lived underdog that's actually fun to play.

I never read a pro review that took this kind of "details" into account.

Game sites feed on artworks, sneak previews and buzz. There's no such thing as a video game critic yet. So trust your peers and go frag some alphas :)

"Ranting" like a "moron" are we ? ;) Nice review.
The pesky Nari are easy to deal with using "Signet pulse" and a good ol' trusty shotgun, but I agree that part with the EMP in the subway station seems hard the first time around.

My favourite detail : hit a werewolf's arms until they break and flap in the wind, and watch the beast try to slap you. Ragdoll fun on the living, now that's something new ! :D

Obscure stuff : sometimes alpha werewolves will grab you. An icon appears telling you to tap the right arrow. Sometimes I do, oftentimes I don't. It never seemed to make a difference. The manual doesn't even mention it. Broken feature or should I try harder ? :?:

Compared to Turning Point I bitterly regret the lack of cheat modes. Grenade action was a LOT of fun in that game, and unlimited hand grenades was a real incentive to replay at least a couple episodes. Unlimited molotovs, or railgun or flamethrower ammo, would have been a great little reward for completing Legendary. (Bots for the MP mode would've been a treat too... I don't suppose there's many folks playing MP Legendary online) :?

It appears Spark's next project will be a third-person game. I really hope they'll come back with another "shoot things in a collapsing world" kind of FPS soon. Screw "official" reviews, we need games like these :D

Well I think I did try to Signet pulse the Naris away, but as far as I recall, it only works when they are solid and it drains your Animus a bit, so it becomes harder to keep enough of it to charge the generator. It's also hard to get a lot of them at once with them swarming from all directions. In the end I found moving around a lot, sprinting here and there, was the best way to deal with them on that objective.

Never had that happen with a Werewolf, sounds hilarious. I have had a hard time chopping their heads off when they fall with one arm draped over their head though. As for the arrow key not working, I had one level suddenly render the quick switch number keys stop working to change weapons. Then the next level they suddenly worked again, go figure, value game quirk I guess.

There's funny moments with the NPC AI too. In one part of the game you drop down into an alleyway, I think it's where you see the Werewolves in plasma field cages for the first time. If you stay tucked back in that alleyway to shoot the NPCs from a distance they will stay back behind a parked car and chuck grenades. Only problem for them is they throw them right at a swinging sign and they keep bouncing back toward them as they stand there yelling, "GRENADE!" I don't think I had to kill any of them.

So do you have Turning Point, and have you played it all the way through? It got pretty bad reviews too, but considering how much better this one is than the reviews, I'm not sure I want to worry about that. The premise of Turning Point is very interesting. The only thing remotely similar I've played is EA's Freedom Fighters, which scored pretty well review wise despite fairly arcade-like gameplay and so so graphics. Is there a pattern here, does EA and all their clout somehow net them better ratings?

Sparks has potential. If they can just fine tune the weak spots and get up out of the value game reputation they'll be fine I think.

Oh, and Mach1, totally agree with you on Bioshock, you nailed it to a T. :wink: